Objective for this Page: To summarize the parados and
consider the function and staging of the chorus.

Summary

A new day dawns on Thebes on the day after the city was unsuccessfully
attacked by Polynices, Creon's nephew, who, having been denied his turn on the
throne by his brother, Eteocles, raised an army in Argos. It's almost as
if the rising sun throws the enemy back.

The enemy in whitened bronze armor had descended on Thebes like an eagle--but
Thebes is an unbeatable dragon! It seems like Zeus blasted the
golden-armored enemy with lightning bolts as the army assailed the walls of
Thebes. It seems like Ares, god of war, came to the aid of Thebes and went
down the ranks of the enemy army dealing death.

Seven captains of the army from Argos attacked the seven gates of Thebes and
lost; finally, the brothers attacked each other with spears and both ended up
dead. Now the goddess Victory flies to Thebes [instead of the eagle
mentioned earlier]. Dionysus, god of dance [and wine, whose festival
hosted play competitions where this play would have been performed in Athens] is
called upon to lead the celebration.

Creon's approach is noted: "New man for a new day." Why, the
elders wonder, have they been summoned here by Creon?

Commentary

The Function of the Chorus: Think of the chorus as the elders of the
Thebes, sort of like a town council, acting only as advisors to the king.
Mostly they talk among themselves, since they are usually alone on stage for
their choral odes. So they provide commentary and reflection on the
condition of the city, the relationships of humans to gods, and the reflections
of old men on the action of the play. These elders are generally
conservative, motivated by religious piety, conditioned to fear the gods, and
always desirous of order in the city--and therefore usually shocked at the
forces that upset the normal order of things in this patriarchal society.
When the leader of the chorus speaks, it is always as a trusted advisor, a
respected elder among respected elders, motivated by his perception of what's
good for the city.

Study Questions

Dialogue? The choral odes, like this opening one, the "Parados,"
were alternating verses of poetry. Perhaps half of the chorus on one
side of the state would sing the first verse ("strophe") and the
other half of the chorus would respond with the next verse
("antistrophe"). Turn-taking would continue throughout the
(in this case) eight verses. To what extent does this ode seem like a
dialogue, a conversation?

Bloody Montage: As commentators on recent events, the
chorus--elders of Thebes--were elated that the city had been saved.
The claims to the throne of both Eteocles and Polynices died with them in
the battle for the city. Design a "montage" of battle scenes
that shows what the chorus reports about the fighting armies that could be
shown on a screen above the chorus in a theater or with the chorus as
voiceover in a movie.

How do you convey the high casualty rate that arises when the gate of
a walled fortress is attacked? How do you multiply that by
7?

How would you stage the direct clash between the two brothers?

Would you try to show an eagle fighting a dragon, or would you put
these symbols on the shields and armor of the opposing armies?

What parts of the bronze armor worn by Polynices and the soldiers of
Argos be white and which parts golden? What color of armor would
Eteocles and the Theban army wear? Why?

How would you depict the presence of the gods--Zeus, Ares, Victory,
Dionysus--as the ode was being spoken or chanted?

The fifth verse is especially dramatic and emphatic with its
repetition of "down" in the Fagles translation (lines
147-155). Would you use background music or reverb on the voices
to increase the intensity of this verse? Or what other audio
method would you use to enhance this verse in staging it?

The Old
Dominion University production of Antigone has the chorus enter
from the floor up to the stage and act out much of what they describe in
their odes. See the bottom few stills on their web page for the
production. (It looks as if the choral leader, or choragos, is clad in
black and wears a mask as one of the three actors who could be on stage at
one time.) Instead of balanced chant from opposite sides of the stage,
then, this production has the chorus move in other ways. Which seems
"better" to you--the strophe-antistrophe dialog or the
choreographed dancing and acting out of their descriptions? Why?
You, of course, have to define in what sense you mean "better."

Assessment: Choose a study question and respond in a paragraph, citing
evidence from the prologue to support your point(s).

This instructional web was made in July, 2002, by Prof. Eric
Hibbison, who is solely responsible for its content.